Your ideas are hugely valuable.

--S.B., Orinda, CA, novelist

“The endeavor of writing can be long and lonely. Mary Carroll Moore, master writing instructor, to the rescue! Moore packs How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book with years of gritty good sense and big-picture perspective. Her techniques for drafting, organizing, and polishing a book are practical and time-tested. Here is a first-time book-writer’s best companion.”

--Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew,author of Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir

If I could implement all I've learned from you, I'd have a best-seller!

Pretend you’re a reporter for the New York Times. You’re going to interview your book idea.

List some questions you’d love to ask your book about its form, content, goals. You can start with something nonthreatening, as you would if you were a real reporter.

Ask your book some very good questions. Some ideas from my class are below, or you can make up your own:

What do you want to tell me about yourself?What form suits you best?Who is your readership and how will theyaccess you?What are you most eager to say?What are you most afraid to say?What genre are you?

When it runs out of things to say (or you getnervous about the answers) ask a different question.

The goal of this book-writing exercise is to surprise yourself. You’ll tap the hidden parts of yourself as a writer, the parts we often censor. You can strike gold--if you maintain the attitude of no-assumptions and anything can happen.

Books for the Blocked--These'll Get You Moving Again!

Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg

Listen to Me by Lynn Lauber

Marry Your Muse by Jan Phillips

Pencil Dancing by Mari Messer

The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo

Thinking about Memoir by Abigail Thomas

Write Your Heart Out by Rebecca McClanahan

A person’s life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art, or love, or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened.Albert Camus

Friday, November 9, 2012

A writing colleague once said: "If I'm away from my book more than three days, it's like starting over again."

Have you experienced this? I have. It's no fun.

Nanowrimo,
or National Novel Writers Month, is happening throughout November.
I've published one novel written during Nanowrimo and am currently
working on its sequel.

Writers who sign up for Nanowrimo enjoy the
community but even more the discipline and accountability of hundreds of
thousands of people writing every day.

We get to experience the unique lift of this discipline, the creativity it brings.

One
of my biggest challenges as a writing teacher is to get writers to try
this. To write a little on their books every single day, even if it's
fifteen minutes. Every day writing creates momentum, turns on the inner
faucet to more ideas. You can use Nanowrimo or an accountability
calendar like Jerry Seinfeld used to--he liked to put a big red X on
every day he wrote. After a while, the accumulation of big red X's
makes it hard to skip a day,

What keeps you going on your writing? We all know it's much more work not to write.

And if you're waiting to write, you're a waiter, not a writer.

Writing in AirportsThe
weekend before Hurricane Sandy hit, I was in Minneapolis teaching three
days of writing workshops at the Loft Literary Center. Skies were blue
and Minneapolis was calm. The storm was somewhere far far away. I was
able to put complete attention on my workshops and the many different
writers who came with their very interesting book projects.

By
Saturday night, the news was full of warnings. Sandy was going to make
landfall on Monday. New England (where I live) was possibly in its
path--or at least in line for some intense winds and probably power
outages. When I saw the item about East Coast airports closing down, I
got on the phone to change my ticket and fly home Sunday night instead
of Monday.

My
evening flight made it to Chicago. I sat there for several hours with
hundreds of other passengers, all of us watching the Departures monitor
and listening to the announcements of cancelled flights. I felt
tense--I didn't want to wait out the hurricane a thousand miles from my
family.

What to do? I remembered my book. Pulled out my laptop, found an empty chair near an outlet, and plugged into the story.

Because
I've been writing every day, even just for fifteen minutes, I could get
into it immediately. I also use a technique called "linkage" that lets
me re-enter without a hiccup. (See below.)

Time passed and I
wrote and wrote. What a good distraction it was! My characters were in
much direr straights than what I was experiencing, so it was great
relief to let my anxieties go onto the page.

Soon my
flight--delayed but still able to land in the last open East Coast
airport--was called. On the plane, instead of sleeping, I kept
writing. The story had me in its thrall.

When I got home, we
prepared for the winds: filled the bathtub, got out candles and olive
oil lamps, dragged out the generator to keep the fridge going, did
laundry. Each of us was asking what we'd miss most if the power was out
for a week. Now that I was home safe and with my loved ones, able to
help neighbors and friends if needed, I thought about my airport writing
time. How could I keep going on my novel with no laptop?

This is a good problem to have!

Techniques That Let You Re-enter EasilyBecause
we are human and we procrastinate away from our writing more than move
toward it, it helps to have a couple of tricks in your back pocket.

Here are my favorites:

1. Linkage

I
learned the technique called "Linkage" from a friend, who said it came
originally from writer Stephen King. It might even be in his book, On Writing (an excellent book, by the way).

The trick to Linkage is to stop each writing session in the middle of a sentence.

When I do this, I just school myself to stop before I finish a thought, close my file, and end for the day.

Of course, the unfinished sentence drives me NUTS. So I can't wait the next morning to open the file and begin typing.

Of course, the technique works because I don't just finish that one sentence--I write a lot more.

If
this sounds like fun, write "Linkage" on a note to yourself and put it
near your computer or writer's notebook. When you are writing later
today, or tomorrow morning, try stopping in the middle of your last
sentence.

See if it works to get you writing the next day.

2. Two-Inch Photo Frame

This technique comes from writer Anne Lamott, of Bird by Bird fame. (If you haven't read Bird by Bird, get thee to a library or bookstore and find a copy!)

On
Anne's advice I purchased a two-inch photo frame, without any photo in
it. I put it on my writing desk. Anne's story: She told herself she
only had to write as many words as would fit into that frame's opening.

I used this technique for years. Like Linkage, it's a mind trick that really works.

Embarrassing that we need these, but if we do, they keep us writing. I'm willing to swallow my pride and try them. Are you?

3. Kitchen Timer

I
own five kitchen timers. I use them for different reasons--to remind
me that I need to leave the house at a certain time, when I suspect I
will forget (too involved in writing!). I also use them to keep me
writing.

My freewriting partner and I use them when we write each
week. We're up to about ninety minutes on the timer. We set it and go
to our separate corners. The rule is that you can do anything that has
to do with the book during that time, not just freewrite. I allow
myself organization time and list-making as part of the writing
session.

But mostly I like to keep myself writing for the whole
ninety minutes, if I can. It's giving an outer accountability, like a
class might.

At home, I set my timer for twenty minutes. I have
to keep my pen moving or fingers on keyboard for the entire time, even
if I feel I am writing nonsense. Most times, I will keep going after
the timer rings.

Sometimes, I don't even hear it.

Why We Need LimitsSome
writers are very nervous about getting deeply into their writing. It's
akin to going under general anesthesia. We lose any awareness of
ourselves and our surroundings. This can be quite uncomfortable if
you're new to it.

Try this last technique--the kitchen timer--to
set a comfortable limit for your writing session. Knowing that you only
have to do this for twenty minutes might give you some relief. You'll
be back to yourself in twenty minutes. That's not so risky.

If you'd like to try Nanowrimo this month, there's still time to sign up. And it's free.

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Upcoming Writing Classes with Mary

Whether you are trying to write the story of your life for publication or as a family legacy, this class by the author of two memoirs will show you how to organize your stories into readable, interesting work. You'll be introduced to a simple formula that successful authors use to find the central conflict of their story, then plan, organize, and write scenes and chapters around it. We'll explore the value of themes, how action and reflection balance one another in memoir and creative nonfiction, and authorial voice versus narrative voice. $105. Click here for details or to register.Writing RetreatsYour Book Starts Here: Week-long Writing Retreat July 30-August 3, Madeline Island School of the Arts, Lake Superior Five days of workshop, personal coaching, and plenty of time to work on your book in our great community of book writers at all stages, working in all genres, on gorgeous Madeline Island off the coast of northern Wisconsin. This retreat will become a highlight of your summer. Great meals and lodging on campus. $775. Click here for details.

Independent Study for Book Writers July 30-August 3, Madeline Island School of the Arts, Lake Superior Craving time, quiet, and a wonderful space to finally get working (or finishing) your book? But enough support each day, plus community, to do it sanely and safely? Five days of personal coaching, plenty of time to write, and optional workshops to attend make this independent study week productive, creative bliss. Great meals and lodging on campus. $775. Click here for details.

A Little about Me . . .

Mary Carroll Moore is an award-winning, internationally published author of thirteen books in three genres, writing teacher, editor and book doctor for publishing houses. For thirty years she's helped thousands of new and experienced writers plan, write, and develop--and publish!--their books. Photo by Bruce Fuller Photography.

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If you believe you have a book inside you just waiting to come out, here is a guide that will ensure your book’s arrival in the world. In clear, accessible prose, Mary Carroll Moore leads the aspiring author through every step of the challenging, rewarding process of developing and completing a full-length book.

--Rebecca McClanahan, author of Word Painting

Encouraging Words--Well-Known Writers with Large Number of Rejections--But Published!

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo--397 rejections (and it became a movie)A Wrinkle in Timeby Madeleine L'Engle--97 rejections (and it won the Newbery Medal for best children's book of 1963; it's now in its 69th printing)Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson--40 rejections (and it has won multiple awards and sold 150,000 hard copies). Judy Blume says she received "nothing but rejections" for 2 years.Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot--17 rejectionsHarry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling--rejected by 9 publishersThe Diary of Anne Frank--16 rejections (and now more than 30 million copies are in print)Dr. Seuss books--more than 15 rejectionsJonathan Livingston Seagullby Richard Bach--140 rejectionsGone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell--38 rejectionsWatership Down by Richard Adams--26 rejectionsDune by Frank Herbert--nearly 20 rejections

To all book writers: Believe in your story. Keep trying. The right home for your book is out there, waiting for you to discover it.

Want to get the creative brain going?

Book writers (and any writers) need to know how to engage the creative right brain that "writes" in images. Think of any wonderful book that's left you swimming in a setting or characters--the writer has successfully used the image-creating part of the brain. But our normal workaday lives short-circuit this part. Check out this cool video of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist at Harvard Medical School, recounting her personal experience of a left-brain stroke and her awakening to right-brain reality. Pretty amazing fusion of brain science with what it feels like to a brain scientist having a stroke:http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

Flying Squirrels Bring Creative Jolt to Novelist

Flying squirrel gets into house--disrupts routine, gets novelist thinking differently. This happened to me! For two days, as I chased the squirrel (actually, it was all night since they are nocturnal), I slept very little. And got many new ideas for my novel-in-progress.Go figure!Maybe...book writers need creative jolts? Routine dulls our imaginations? How has an unexpected interruption actually been a gift for your creativity this week?

At the Loft Literary Center, I can always tell which students in my classes have taken Mary Carroll Moore’s class on book-writing. They talk about writing their book in "islands" and using storyboards to figure out how those sections relate to each other. When another student confesses to feeling overwhelmed by the material her memoir might include, they readily advise, “You should try Mary Carroll Moore’s method.” I second that.--Cheri Register, author of Packinghouse Daughter and American Book Award winner

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